No other site reviews and critiques news images as well as publishes original photography — all in the name of helping you become a sharper “visual consumer.” Are you bombarded by powerful images from the world of news, culture and social media? Sign up for our “Week in Re-View” and let us help unpack them for you. Other sites read the words. We read the pictures.

Email Address

Close

Reading The Pictures is dedicated to the analysis of news photos and media images.

July 20, 2013

After the Zimmerman Trial: Hoodie Comes into its Own as Cultural Symbol

One thing that fascinated me this week was the ascendence of the hoodie to relate, in the most eloquent way, to the Florida verdict. Since Trayvon Martin’s death, the article of clothing has come to represent (the stereotyping of) young black males. This week, it also became the envelope and container by which to express the sense of bias and omission of race from the Zimmerman trial and acquittal.

These four images, appearing in reverse chronological order, all took the object in a different direction. Having done my fair share of heavy lifting this week, I’m interested in your thoughts on these images, what you happen to see in the progression, as well any points of comparison that stand out to you between particular images.

I’ll jump in at some point over the weekend to lend my thoughts and ideally respond to yours.

By the way, this week was particularly busy behind the scenes, not just because of my move from L.A. to Berkeley, but because we’re putting the finishing touches on our site redesign. Sometime in the next week or so, we will put things on hold for 24 hours to make the switch. Of course, we will let you know in advance.

(photo 1: Nick Veasey for TIME; image 2: Adam McCabe @AdamIsCreative for Orlando Weekly; photo-illustration 3: attributed to the artist Nikkolas Smith; illustration 4: still looking for the artist’s name. June 15th cover of the New York Daily News.)